Interdisciplinary Modeling: Water-Related Issues and Changing Climate - New Mexico State University

Graduate course in interdisciplinary modeling: water-related issues and climate change offered at University of Nevada, Reno in Summer 2012

Interdisciplinary Modeling for Water-Related Issues Graduate Course

The science and management of aquatic ecosystems is inherently interdisciplinary, with issues associated with hydrology, atmospheric science, water quality, geochemistry, sociology, economics, environmental science, and ecology. Addressing water resources issues in any one discipline invariably involves effects that concern other disciplines, and attempts to address one issue often have consequences that exacerbate existing issues or concerns, or create new ones (Jørgensen et al. 1992; Lackey et al. 1975; Straskraba 1994) due to the strongly interactive nature of key processes (Christensen et al. 1996). Thus, research and management of aquatic ecosystems must be interdisciplinary to be most effective, but such truly interdisciplinary work is often difficult to implement. Interdisciplinary modeling is a useful approach for managing and understanding aquatic ecosystems, but there are several challenges to the implementation of successful interdisciplinary modeling of aquatic ecosystems, including (1) different spatial and temporal scales that specific disciplines are concerned with (Nilsson et al. 2003); (2) differences in degrees of uncertainty of data and models (Crockett 1994; Minns et al. 1996), and (3) lack of awareness of what modeling options are available in an interdisciplinary sense. All of these are intertwined with (4) difficulties in communication between disciplines, where different terminology and perspectives can get in the way of discussing common issues or concerns (Cullen 1990; Nicolson et al. 2002; Nilsson et al. 2003). And finally, (5) scientists and modelers need to be educated and trained about interdisciplinary approaches (Nicolson et al. 2002; NSF 2000; USGS 1999). This course is designed to address many of the challenges identified above by introducing students to models that are available in different disciplines and how such models might be applied together to address aquatic ecosystem issues, addressing issues of variability and uncertainty in implementing interdisciplinary approaches, and giving students experience in working in interdisciplinary teams to apply interdisciplinary modeling approaches to increase knowledge about aquatic ecosystems. These students will then be better-prepared for professional or academic careers in which they interact with peers from other disciplines to address real-work aquatic ecosystem issues. Faculty from different disciplines at different universities participated in this course by giving lectures on modeling topics. Much of the material being used in this course is based on outcomes from the Interdisciplinary Modeling for Aquatic Ecosystems Curriculum Development workshop that was held at Granlibakken Conference Center and Resort on July 17-22, 2005. This workshop resulted in the development of course materials for a graduate level course with an overall objective of engaging interdisciplinary discourse in modeling aquatic ecosystems. The submission includes materials from the 2015 and 2012 offerings of the course. Materials for the 2005, 2008 and 2010 course have not been included in this package. As an interinstitutional course, the course had different numbers at different institutions (e.g., NRES 730 at University of Nevada Reno, RGSC 618 at New Mexico State University, and GEOS 697 at Boise State University). The materials are organized in the nres730_ecstatic_new.zip as follows: Syllabus and schedule for the 2012 offering at New Mexico State University (618_syll_sched_2012.pdf) and syllabus and schedule for the 2015 offering at Boise State University (697_syll_sched_2015.pdf) are in the root directory. Folder “info_faculty” includes the individual schedule and syllabus files for each course year. Each lecturer was also asked to fill out a lecture information worksheet (the base worksheet is included in this folder) to provide information for students to review before each lecture. Folder “evolving_curric” includes course materials for lectures, labs, exercises, and projects Folder “lectures” includes folders for each lecture and associated labs as appropriate. The folders are ordered according to the class schedule for each year. Most lecture folders contain a lecture information file (“lectinfo_.pdf”), lecture slides, and associated lab files if a lab was associated with the lecture topic. It is recommended to review the “lectinfo_.pdf” file first to see lecture goals, required reading, context, and preparatory work. Each folder also includes a .pdf file of the associated wiki page. In some cases, a “readme_.docx” file is included to indicate of special software is needed or other guidance to complete exercises. Folder “other_ex” includes the following additional exercises that were done during the classes: Folder “conceptual_mod” includes the interactive exercise that was done early during each class offering to get students thinking about issues with linking models between disciplines. Folder “stella_lab” includes the wiki page about this lab that introduced students to Stella software. In teaching the class, we had education licenses for Stella, an object-oriented software that was useful for interacting across disciplines about modeling. The software was used for several lab exercises during the class. A purchased license is required to do those exercises. Folder “interdisc_toolbox” in the “2015” folder contains pre- and post-surveys that were used for group interactions about collaboration and communication. This exercise was only done in 2015. Folder “projects” includes class projects assigned to students during the class. Each time the class was offered, students were put into interdisciplinary groups to develop modeling approaches and do preliminary modeling of complex water resources issues. Faculty provided materials and gave presentations for these projects that are included in the project folders. Each student group prepared a presentation and report on their project, and some also shared their modeling materials are included in the project folders. Folder “wiki_items” includes two pages about the class that were on the wiki that may be of interest. Some of the links on these pages may not work. As noted, a wiki was used each time the course was offered, and the submission includes .pdfs of the wiki pages that may have links to pages for the 2008 and 2010 course offerings that are on a google sites page that will probably be discontinued in 2021.Materials on those pages may not be accessible

The Value of Comparative Animal Research : Krogh’s Principle Facilitates Scientific Discoveries

There are no conflicts of interest to declare. This paper developed from the 2016 Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences to TJS. TJS has received funding from The Leverhulme Trust. FJPE is in receipt of funding from the BBSRC (BB/M001555/1). The National Institutes of Health has funded RDF (NS 034950, NS093277, NIMH 087930), AGO (HD079573, IOS-1354760) and AMK (HD081959). BAA is an Arnold O. Beckman postdoctoral fellow.Peer reviewedPostprin

Conceptual Framework for Modeling Dynamic Complexities in Produced Water Management

This research addresses a gap in the produced water management (PWM) literature by providing a conceptual framework to describe the connections of PWM to regional water budgets. We use southeastern New Mexico as a case study, because the region is facing looming shortfalls in water availability, and oil and gas production generate high volumes of produced water in the region. The framework was developed through expert interviews, analysis of industry data, and information gained at industry meetings; it is supported by detailed descriptions of material flows, information flows, and PWM decisions. Produced water management decisions may be connected to regional water budgets through dynamic complexities; however, modeling efforts exploring PWM often do not capture this complexity. Instead, PWM is most often based on the least expensive management and disposal alternatives, without considering short and long-term impacts to the regional water budget. On the other hand, regional water budgets do not include treated produced water as a potential resource, thus missing opportunities for exploring the impact of potential beneficial reuse. This is particularly important when there is a need to address water shortages in chronically water-short regions of the United States. At the same time, oil and gas production in the western United States is challenged by the need to dispose of large volumes of produced water. The framework is useful for developing improved models of PWM to identify the impact of alternative management decisions on regional water budgets.publishedVersio

Documenting Hydrological Benefits of Traditional Acequia Irrigation Systems: Collaborative Research in New Mexico, USA

[EN] In New Mexico, USA, acequia-based agriculture is under threat as pressures rise to transfer water and land out of agriculture. The amount and cash value of agricultural production coming out of acequia-irrigated valleys is not great when compared to many production areas – yet, the overall value of acequia agricultural systems may go beyond food and fiber production in ways not apparent to the general public. Research on the hydrology of acequias has been carried out in collaboration with acequia associations, irrigators, and other community residents in north-central New Mexico. This research indicates these acequia irrigation systems provide important hydrologic benefits including aquifer recharge and groundwater return flow. In our water budget study, of water diverted into the Acequia de Alcalde, on average only 7% was consumed by crop evapotranspiration, 59% returned to the river as surface return flow, and 33% returned to the river as shallow groundwater return flow. In effect, the acequia irrigation system stores spring snowmelt runoff in the valley alluvial aquifer and releases it to the river later when river flows are normally low. If acequia agriculture decreases significantly, these key hydrologic functions could be lost and fall and winter river flows could diminish, particularly during drought, causing negative effects on downstream water users as well as river ecology.Guldan, SJ.; Fernald, AG.; Ochoa, CG. (2015). Documenting Hydrological Benefits of Traditional Acequia Irrigation Systems: Collaborative Research in New Mexico, USA. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 738-750. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISL2014.2014.188OCS73875

Connectivity of Coupled Hydrologic and Human Systems as the Basis of Resilience in Traditional Irrigation Communities in New Mexico

[EN] Changes in land use and water availability are impacting the integrity of traditional irrigation systems and their associated communities worldwide. We designed a study to quantify the components of resilience within coupled hydrologic and human systems in New Mexico USA. We worked collaboratively with three communities in the northern Rio Grande basin to characterize hydrologic, ecological, socio-cultural, land use, and economic system components of linked water and human social systems. Building on component models and quantified resilience examples, we crafted graphical representations of connectivity and resilience. We added data points from around the world gleaned from a research workshop. We found there was more hydrological connectivity with flow paths from irrigation system to irrigated field to groundwater and river; the most important nexus was shallow groundwater recharge. There was more human connectivity with strong connections to land and community involvement; an important nexus was mutualism/social capital. Within the northern New Mexico communities, it appears that hydrological connectivity is associated with higher water availability and even if disconnected due to water scarcity can be restored with renewed water availability. Community connectivity, on the other hand, seems susceptible to long term disruption that self-perpetuates long after the initial stresses are imposed. We compared resilience of the hydrologic and human systems on axes of climate (arid to sub-humid), hydrologic connectivity (between surface water and groundwater and between watershed and river), and community connectedness (between water users and water infrastructure and between community members and water management organizations) including communities from northern New Mexico, Bali, Spain, Morocco, central Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, and southern New Mexico. Hydrologic connectivity was most related to local water availability and climate. Community connectivity seemed to be a function of other variables such as mutualism and local control of governance. Changes in water availability and land use affected communities disproportionately. There appears to be a combination of characteristics that has particularly high resilience: medium aridity allows enough water for hydrologic connectivity yet has enough water scarcity to engender collective community action. Promoting connectivity may be a way to enhance resilience of traditional irrigation communities.Fernald, A.; Rivera, J.; Rodríquez, S.; Tidwell, V.; Ochoa, C.; Ortiz, Q.; Guldan, S. (2015). Connectivity of Coupled Hydrologic and Human Systems as the Basis of Resilience in Traditional Irrigation Communities in New Mexico. En Irrigation, Society and Landscape. Tribute to Tom F. Glick. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 418-428. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISL2014.2014.172OCS41842

Identifying Capabilities and Potentials of System Dynamics in Hydrology and Water Resources as a Promising Modeling Approach for Water Management

Agriculture is the most important sector with regard to water resources management due to its social, economic, hydrological, and environmental aspects, and many scholars and researchers have been driven to investigate the dynamic interrelationships among hydrological, environmental, and socioeconomic factors affecting agriculture. The system dynamics (SD) approach has become widely used because of its merits and benefits as a tool to deal with complex, dynamic problems and systems with many aspects and components that are involved and must be understood to ensure sound decisions regarding water and hydrological systems. Although agricultural water management needs to be studied as a main part of water management, socioeconomic management, and environmental management requiring the use of SD, this review shows that SD is currently used to a limited extent in terms of agricultural water management. This paper sheds light on the studies and investigations on the use of SD in the water sector and highlights the strengths of SD in order to encourage researchers to use this promising method to manage such a vital resource. Accordingly, this review seeks to include a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of existing publications and scholarly papers on the use of SD modeling as an effective technique for dealing with different problems associated with planning, management, and analysis of hydrology and water resources systems. Recent trends in the integration of SD with other modeling systems, such as artificial intelligence systems, are discussed along with the limitations and challenges facing application. This article makes a new contribution by giving a foundation of references and studies for scholars, researchers, and academics which encourages future investigation in employing the SD approach to hydrology and water resources management and planning, especially with agricultural water

Water quality effects of hyporheic processing

Water quality changes along hyporheic flow paths may have important effects on river water quality and aquatic habitat. Previous studies on the Williamette River, Oregon, showed that river water follows hyporheic flow paths through highly porous deposits created by river channel meandering. To determine water quality changes associated with hyporheic flow, we studied six bar deposits positioned between the river and closed lentic side-channel alcoves. At each site we measured water levels and water quality in river, hyporheic, and alcove water. At all sites we found hyporheic flow paths from the river through the bar deposits to the alcove surface water. At a majority of the sites hyporheic dissolved oxygen and ammonium decreased relative to river water, while hyporheic specific flow rates, hyporheic temperature decreased relative to river water, and there was little change in temperature at the other three sites. Hypoheic changes most affected receiving alcove water quality at sites with fast hyporheic flow rates. Strategies to promote ecosystem functions provided by hyporheic flow should focus on restoring natural hydrogeophmorphic river channel processes to create high porosity deposits conducive to hyporheic flow.PB2000-10742